Improvement in cam-slides



`W. HOUGHTALING & E. SIVITER.

CAM-SLIDE.

Patented June 6,1876.

PATENT WILLIAM HCUGHTALINC, oE BEIDGEPCET, AND EMANUEL sIvITEE', or wEsT sTEATEoED, CoNNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAM-SLIDES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 178,441, dated June, 1876; application filed l April 1l, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM HoUeHTA- LING, of Bridgeport, and EMANUEL SIVITEE, of West Stratford, both in the county of Fairfieldand State of Connecticut, have invented certain Improvements in Gam-Slides and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

Our invention relates to means for communicating motion from a grooved cam in a similar manner to that described in Letters Patent No. 157,029, granted to usv under date-of November 17, 1874; and it consists in anovel construction of a divided slide or block, working in a cam-groove, and combination thereof with a stud or pivot and a set-screw, whereby provision is made for expanding the slide in order to compensate for wear and friction and, further, in the combination, with said slide and the stud and set-screw, of asprin g of novel construction, whereby provision is made for preventing the slide from binding in the groove. In o'iir former invention, patented as aforesaid, the slide is made in a single piece, of bi- *a furcated construction, thetwo branches being connected by a spring. The stud or pivot is of a spherical forni, in two parts, and the expanding or tightening is accomplished by means of a screw lying in a direction parallel with the axis of the pivot.

In our present invention the slide is made in two pieces, and the stud or pivot may be either spherical, cylindrical, or conical. The expansion is accomplished by means of a screw arranged in a direction transverse to the axis 0f the pivot. A spring may be arranged in the slide, bearing on the surface of the pivot, and regulated by the screw, so as to impart a degree of elasticity to the pivot and slide, and

enable them to Ayield when passing irregularities or sharp curves in the groove, and prevent binding therein.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the manner of carrying out our invention.

Figure 1 is a sectional view, transverse to the axis of the cam. Fig. 2 is a face view of the cam and sectional view of the pivot, the section being indicated by the line x :v of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a view of the pivot and slide, similar to that shown in Fig. 2, but enlarged.

A represents a peripherically-grooved cam, the groove a being of any suitable shape and direction. The slide consists of two blocks, B1 B2, adapted to t together and work freely in the groove a, with the stud or pivot between them. The block'B1 has its outer face curved sufficiently to enable it to follow the direction of the groove a when working therein, and from the ends of said outer face two branches, b b, extend nearly at or about right angles to said face, and parallel with each other, so that an edge view of said block presents the appearance of three sides vof an oblong ligure. rlhe bearing-surface for the stud or pivot is formed on the inner face of the block, between the branches b b, and nearly parallel with the outer face. When the stud or pivot is of spherical shape, the bearing surface therefor is grooved to correspond therewith but when a cylindrical or tapering pivot is used, it is not necessary to groove the bearing-surface. The block B2 is similar in shape to the block B1, but sufliciently shorter to enable it to be received between the arms b b, as shown clearly in Fig. 3. When the two blocks B1 B2 are placed together to form the slide, as their inner faces are not exactly parallel with their outer faces, the bearing-surface for the pivot 'presents an oval or elliptical profile, slightly narrower toward one end than the other. The stud or pivot E works in the widest portion of this oval or elliptical bearing-surface, .said pivot being carried by a lever, f, connecting with the mechanism to which motion is to be imparted from the cam-groove.

A set-screw, C, passes through one of the arms b of the block B1, with its point toward the narrowest portion of the bearing-surface,

and in a direction transverse to the axis of the stud or pivot. Y l

When the slide becomes worn loose from friction,it is adj usted to t the groove by tightening the screw C, which has the ei'ectmf forcing the pivot E toward the narrowest portion of the bearing-surface, and expanding the slide by forcing its two parts outward from each other, so as to cause the slide to lit the groove c with the required degree of nicety.

In order to prevent the point of the screw C from Wearing a groove in the stud or pivot i FFICE.

E, and at the same time to impart a certain degree of elasticity to the working of the stud in the slide, We employ a spring, D, oi' concavo-convex form, arranged in the widest portion of the inner bearing-surface of the slide, with its concave surface bearing against the pivot E, and with the point of the screw bearing against its convex surface. When a spherical stud or pivot is used, the spring may partake of a corresponding form; but when the pivot is cylindrical or conical, the spring may be made from a straight dat strip of metal, bent to form an arc of a smaller circle than that described by the circumference of the pivot. The point oi" the screw may enter a hole in the spring to prevent its displacement. By means of this spring the friction upon the pivot is more evenly distributed than if the point of the screw were made to bear directly thereon, and a sufficient degree of elasticity is obtained to enable the pivot to yield to the increased pressure on the slide when passingirregnlarities or sharp curves in the cam-groove.

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The divided slide, consisting of the blocks B1 B2, constructed with tapering or elliptical bearing-surfaces, as herein described, in combination with a pivot or stud and a set-screw, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

2. The concavo-convex spring D, in combination with the divided slide, and the pivot and set-screw, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

- WILLIAM HOUGHTALING.

EMANUEL SIVITER. Witnesses:

L. S..GATL1N, J. D. GUNMNGHAM. 

